They leaned back in their chairs, looking at the general
confusion with an air of gravity, and drank but little; both of them
were absorbed in the thought of what lay before them to do that
evening, and yet neither of them felt able to rise and go. Vautrin
gave a side glance at them from time to time, and watched the change
that came over their faces, choosing the moment when their eyes
drooped and seemed about to close, to bend over Rastignac and to say
in his ear:--
"My little lad, you are not quite shrewd enough to outwit Papa Vautrin
yet, and he is too fond of you to let you make a mess of your affairs.
When I have made up my mind to do a thing, no one short of Providence
can put me off. Aha! we were for going round to warn old Taillefer,
telling tales out of school! The oven is hot, the dough is kneaded,
the bread is ready for the oven; to-morrow we will eat it up and
whisk away the crumbs; and we are not going to spoil the baking?
. . . No, no, it is all as good as done! We may suffer from a few
conscientious scruples, but they will be digested along with the
bread. While we are having our forty winks, Colonel Count Franchessini
will clear the way to Michel Taillefer's inheritance with the point of
his sword.
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